KH2, FFIII, FFTA: The Ultimate Darkness
by James DM
Summary: Three evils come together and threaten to destroy all worlds. Three heroes meet by chance. But their meeting was fate, for the evils that threaten all who exist are far more familiar than they ever could have imagined...
1. Chapter 1: Into the Darkness

I don't own Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy III, Kingdom Hearts 2, or any characters in this story. I have also not completed FF3 or KH2, and have done research on the endings in order to make them more true to the game. If any part of my story contradicts the games, please forgive me. xD Enjoy.

**The Ultimate Darkness**

_Chapter 1: Into the Darkness_

As the Gummi ship soared in the void between worlds, Sora laid back in his chair. After beating the Hydra at Olympus, he was beat. "Hey Goofy, you mind dimming the lights? I wanna catch some Z's." Sora asked sleepily.

"Uhhh…sure, Sora." He got up, walked over to the switch, and was about to touch the light switch, when he heard a LOUD interruption.

"Don't touch that switch!" Chip yelled. "Open your eyes!" roared Dale. "We're coming up on something big!" Chip pointed. "Check it out, guys!" Dale pointed as well. Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran to the windshield of the Gummi ship and were amazed.

"Wow!" Sora exclaimed. "It's amazing! It's a big, beautiful palace, and there are cities, hills, mountains, forests, rivers! It's beautiful! Uhh…what is this world?

"This world is called Ivalice." Chip said. "It may look beautiful now, but wait until we come closer. You'll be in for a rude awakening."

And they waited. As the seconds passed, the world grew bigger as they approached it. And as they came closer, their hearts sank more and more. Because the closer they came, the more they came to realize that it was shrouded in darkness—more darkness than they had ever seen in their lives.

"What in the world?" Donald yelled.

"Our sensors picked up all the darkness before it was visible." Chip said.

"That's horrible! Do you think it's the Heartless? Or Malificent?"

"I don't know…" Sora said. "But we have to find out what it is. Full speed ahead, Chip and Dale!"

"Aye aye, sir!" They both said in unison, and went back into the control center. Sora stood their arms folded. This is going to be a big job. Next thing, they felt a big boom as the Gummi Ship dashed forth. Donald and Goofy fell backwards, but Sora stood in place. He had a bad feeling in his heart.

As they came closer to the world, they got ready to get through the darkness. Hopefully they would not get ensnared in it. As the Gummi Ship came closer and closer, it seemed to go faster. But then something unexpected happened. Something that looked like a boat with propellers that floated in the air, which was much larger than the Gummi Ship, appeared in front of the Ship! The crash that followed was horrible for those in the Gummi Ship. The ship exploded around them, but Sora's Reflect magic blocked them from harm. But all of a sudden his Keyblade disappeared in his hand. Chip, Dale, Donald and Goofy fell into the darkness, their screams faded slowly. Sora saw two boys and a girl fall from the boat, into the darkness as well. To avoid falling, he grabbed onto a few broken planks on the boat where the Gummi ship crashed, and braced for landing. The boat fell in a vertical downward direction, and Sora was absolutely sure it was going to crash. He closed his eyes, and felt the cold of the darkness rush upon his skin. It stung so badly. He was afraid he couldn't take it anymore. But eventually the stinging stopped, and he felt warm. He opened his eyes to see a see a beautiful, wide open sea near an island. The boat then began to fly again. It landed on top of the water, and then the propellers went back inside the hull and were replaced with sails. Sora went inside the small hole that was created by the Gummi Ship, and looked for stairs. When he found them, he went upstairs.

When he got to the deck, he saw a figure Sora's size from behind wearing black and purple armor at the wheel. _A heartless!_ Sora thought. He put out his hand and the Hero's Crest Keyblade appeared. Usually heartless would turn and attack at the first sign of a Keyblade. But this one didn't move. Sora took a step closer, and walked up slowly. When he was right behind the heartless, it turned around faster than Sora could see and pulled out two swords, one crimson red, and one beautiful silver. They slashed Sora across the chest, knocking him into the air. When in the air, he performed Aerial Recovery and then came down to perform an Aerial Spiral. As he came towards the heartless, he realized it wasn't a heartless at all! It was a boy in black armor, about Sora's age, with silver hair. The boy did a roll to the side, but Sora's Keyblade managed to tag his leg. A little injured, the boy stopped on the ground and knelt for a second. The boy looked up and realized Sora was standing in front of him with his Keyblade about to strike his heart. At the last second, the boy pulled out his two swords and tried his best to push Sora's attack away. At first it wasn't working. He could see Sora was getting cocky. But the boy had another trick up his sleeve. The boy's eyes winced, and Sora could see he was in pain. Was it his leg? Or something else? He then saw what looked like darkness creep up on the boy's swords. Sora was about to pull his keyblade away, but was frozen in his place when he saw the boy's eyes go completely black, and Sora felt a huge, painful pulse was sent flying back. His back hit the mast of the boat, and his Keyblade disappeared. He was down for the count.

He saw the boy's eyes go back to normal, but were still filled with anger. If this boy wasn't a Heartless yet, he sure would be soon. The boy walked up to Sora, his silver sword sheathed, but his crimson one out and pointed right at Sora's throat. "Who are you?" he said in a voice that was as deep a pitch as Sora's. "Where are you from? Why did you crash into my ship? I suggest you answer them."

"Give me a—urgh—chance to answer, will ya?" Sora said. The boy exhaled. "I'm Sora. I'm from Destiny Islands. I came here on the Gummi Ship because my pilots Chip and Dale found that this world was covered in darkness. We expected it might have been the heartless, so we decided to take a pit stop, which was when your huge boat appeared out of nowhere, and we crashed into out, completely DESTROYING the Gummi Ship. I managed to protect everyone from falling into the darkness, but apparently there was too much darkness and it overwhelmed my Keyblade, causing it to disappear and so did the shield. Chip, Dale, and my friends Donald and Goofy fell and disappeared into the darkness. I managed to catch onto your boat where the Gummi Ship crashed. When we landed I popped in, and thought you were a heartless. So we fought, you kicked my butt, and here we are."

The boy stared at Sora for what seemed like 30 seconds. He obviously hadn't the foggiest of what Sora just said. After a while, he sheathed his crimson sword. Sora got up, and cast Cure on his leg. The boy looked at Sora and smiled.

"Thanks…maybe you're more trustworthy than I thought."

"Of course I am. But can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Are you a heartless?"

The boy looked at Sora and raised an eyebrow. "Last time I checked, I was Luneth."

"Luneth? What's a Luneth?" Sora stepped back as if to take a fighting position.

"It's my name, not a race." Luneth chuckled. "As for a heartless, I don't know what you're talking about, because I find myself very kind to people and not at all heartless."

"No…a heartless is when someone succumbs to the darkness in their heart and it takes control of them, transforming them into monsters of pure darkness." Sora explained.

"Ahh…and you figured because of my black armor and the fact that I can use darkness to hurt enemies, I was one?" Luneth chuckled. "Well, you're kind of going in the opposite direction. I'm Luneth, one of the four Warriors of Light. Our purpose is to use the power of light to stamp out the darkness that threatens our home. If we restore the light to all of the Crystals of Light and stop the growing darkness, the equilibrium will be restored and we will be at peace. If not, the imbalance will set free the void and threaten to engulf the world."

"Damn." Sora said, pretty impressed. "My whole purpose is to use the Keyblade to connect all of the worlds that have been separated…and I have to stop the forces of evil, including the Heartless, and the Nobodies, which are the body and soul left over when a Heartless is created. The 13 strongest Nobodies are called Organization XIII, who are in charge of all Nobodies. Organization XIII is up to something…we don't know yet…but what they're going to do is a threat to all worlds. Mine, yours…everyone's."

"Ah." Luneth said, also impressed. "Interesting. Well, I'm going to drop anchor. Luckily the hole from the Gummi Ship was kind of high, so we won't be taking on any water. Now let's see if we can go anywhere. Preferably somewhere that has food, because Ingus and Arc pigged out on our last stash of food."

Sora immediately spotted a forest that had trees on it near the beach. "There! It's closest, and we might find some food!"

"Good thinking. After we get food for the journey we can make our way to a city and find a place to stay." Luneth agreed. "All right, let's go."

"So, where are the lifeboats?" Sora asked.

"Lifeboats? What lifeboats? There are no lifeboats. This isn't a boat, dude. Well, not entirely. You saw it for yourself—it's an airship! The top quality airship, designed by Cid Haze himself!"

"Cid Haze? I think you mean Cid Highwind. And trust me, he makes stuff a lot more high-tech than this, no offense. You saw the Gummi Ship, right?" Sora said, eyebrow raised.

"No, I mean Cid Haze. The Airship designer for King Argus. Maybe Cid Highwind is his distant cousin or something, but Cid Haze is famous for this baby. Durable…fast…convenient. What more could you want?"

"Lifeboats." Sora smiled.

"If you really want lifeboats so bad, here!" Luneth took out what looked like a piece of cardboard. He threw it to Sora.

"What is this?" Sora asked.

"It's a foldable canoe. I mostly use it for rivers and crap, but considering our landing was kind of sudden, and I didn't think before dropping anchor, we're gonna have to hope it gets us to shore. Throw it into the water."

Sora did as he was told; he threw the small piece of cardboard into the water. At first, it just floated. Then it unfolded more and more and more until it took the shape of a canoe. Luneth dove into the water, and Sora watched him climb into the canoe. Sora did the same. They then started rowing to shore. When they got out, Sora looked at the trees. These trees were amazingly huge. They didn't look that big before. He had never seen a tree this big.

"Where are we?" Sora asked.

"Nubswood." Luneth replied instantly.

"How did you know that?" Sora asked. Luneth pointed to a sign that said "Nubswood". "Oh."

"Now stop horsing around, let's look for food." Luneth chuckled.

They walked deeper into the Nubswood, and the farther they went, the less sunlight shone through. But they paid no notice. As they walked, they began to lose their sense of direction. Eventually they were lost. And to top it all off, monsters appeared when they entered a clearing.

"What the hell are those things?" Sora asked. "They aren't Heartless!"

"They're nothing I've seen either. Does each world have different monsters?"

"It's possible. But I doubt my Keyblade will have much effect on them."

"Let's try anyway." Sora summoned his Keyblade, and Luneth pulled out his two weapons. Then something weird happened. There was a flash of light about thirty meters away from them. Out of the flash of Light appeared a man in elegant silver armor, with a sword in his holster and riding an armored Chocobo.

"Engagement declared." The man announced. "Today's laws indicate: Use of Instruments and Lightning are forbidden and will result in a yellow card penalty. Use of Knightswords and Wind are recommended and will result in one Judge Point Reward."

"Laws? Judge Points?" Sora asked.

"Knightswords? Instruments?" Luneth followed. Both hadn't the foggiest what was going on.

They found themselves all the more helpless as the monsters backed them against trees.

"Luneth, what are those things?" Sora asked, panicking.

"They look like goblins," Luneth replied. "But it's not them I'm scared of. It's that guy riding the Chocobo. He said there are laws. What if killing these things is illegal?"

"It's not. Not today at least." They heard a voice, a voice of someone their age, what seemed like the voice of a savior. All of a sudden, one of the Goblins' eyes opened extremely wide. It hunched over, and Sora and Luneth saw a sword in its back, a sword that shone as elegantly as the eyes of boy who wielded it.

"So, are you going to stand there, or are you gonna help me?" The Goblin, still alive but pretty wounded, got back up. The boy took out the sword, and used his shield to parry the incoming punch. He then spun around and slashed it across the chest. In a puff of smoke, it appeared on the ground, seemingly dead.

Sora called up his Keyblade, and jumped in the air. Then he flew towards a Redcap and did a spinning attack. The Redcap recovered from the blow, and lashed out at Sora. Sora guarded with his Keyblade, and then slashed the Goblin. In a puff of smoke it fell too.

Luneth, however, was doing a bit more work. Since he had two blades, He took on two enemies. He used his red sword to wound one goblin, and he smiled, as if it felt good for some reason. Then his eyes filled with purple, his swords went black. The two goblins were sent flying, and went in a puff of smoke as they hit the ground.

"Engagement over!" announced the man in silver. "Victory goes to: The Unnamed Clan!"

"Unnamed Clan?" Luneth asked. "Since when are we a clan?"

"Don't question it. Just follow me. We should head back to Sprohm for a drink and some rest. And I'd like to talk to you guys, if you don't mind." Sora examined this boy as he talked. He could see he wore a blue tunic and brown pants, and had a sword holster on his side, but over it he wore beautiful gold armor on his torso, and purple, pointed boots. His eyes shone with a brilliant blue, his hair an elegant yellow.

"All right, let's go. How long is the trip?" Sora asked.

"It'll be about a day. I'm Marche, by the way."

"Sora, and this is Luneth." Luneth waved as Sora introduced him.

"Well, follow me guys." Marche repeated, and they were off.


	2. Chapter 2: Getting Familiar

_Chapter 2: Getting Familiar_

They arrived in Sprohm the next day, and it was a strange town. Everything looked weird. It was badly painted, to the point everything looked molten. And it was filled with what looked like orange lizards. When they entered the pub, they saw more diverse races. They saw humans, girls with horns, little walking stuffed animals, orange lizards, and a cross between a hippo and an elephant—wearing clothes. Sora and Luneth felt very uncomfortable here.

"Hey barkeep, three rounds." Marche said.

The bartender poured three glasses of what looked like wine, and put them on the counter. "Hundred gil."

"A hundred gil? Isn't that kind of expensive for three glasses of wine?" Luneth exclaimed.

"I have no gil…just munny." Sora looked down.

"It's on me, guys. Don't worry." Marche took out a hundred gil and placed it on the counter. The bartender took it, and each of the three took their drinks. They followed Marche to a spot with three armchairs and sat down.

"Now, why don't you guys tell me who you are?" Marche said, but instead of trying to make it sound friendly, it kind of sounded antagonistic. He hoped they didn't take it that way.

Apparently they didn't, because Luneth was quick to answer. "Well, this one's long. Get comfortable."

Sora got up, stretched, took a drink, and sat.

"All right. My world is not this one. It's far from here. But it holds a lot of power. So, long ago, the people called Ancients on my floating continent above the planet had an advanced, thriving civilization. Their arrogance led them to try to utilize the almighty power of the elemental crystals of light. However, abusing this power would result in an imbalance of the equilibrium, resulting in swallowing both the continent and world below in the Void. Which is bad. So the Dark Crystals from the dark world called Four Warriors of Darkness to take the power of each crystal and stop the abuse of the light crystals. They did, but the bottom world was destroyed. The floating continent survived. So later on, something horrible known as the Great Earthquake happened. It was caused by the utmost darkness. Up from it, darkness and monsters spawned to ravage our land, both bottom and top, and swallowed the light crystals into the ground, putting them either underground or on the bottom world. Also, ten years ago, the bottom world was rebuilt and thriving again, but suddenly darkness ravaged it. It was completely covered in darkness, and everyone there was put in a deep sleep. But the floating continent was spared once more, and people retreated there. When darkness spread on the bottom world, I and my three friends were on the Airship piloted by Cid Haze. He took us to the continent and saved our lives. But the people on the bottom world…the darkness put them in a sleep that would last them 10 years. So, a few months ago, another earthquake opened up a cave. As I went down it, I found a crystal of light. It turned out that now someone was abusing the crystals of darkness, which was what caused the Great Earthquake and the darkness on the bottom world. This was to upset the balance and release the Void, which would consume both worlds. So I and my three other friends have to find the light crystals, take their power, and then stop the power of darkness before it grows too strong. We came here because Ivalice was shrouded in a LOT of darkness. We thought since there was so much…this might be the realm of darkness itself."

"Wow." Sora said. "But my story might be a tad shorter."

"So, over a year ago, I was a normal boy growing up on Destiny Islands with my friends Riku and Kairi. We wanted to build a raft to go out and see the world. But one day we get attacked by dark monsters called Heartless, and I and my friends are separated. I then met Donald and Goofy, two servants of King Mickey. We soon find out that Ansem, a former leader of the world Hollow Bastion, believes that the true essence of the heart inside you is darkness. So he believed that Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all living things, must be the ultimate darkness. But he was wrong—it was light. He was destroyed by the overwhelming light. So, in order to contain the Heartless behind the door to Kingdom Hearts, Riku and King Mickey stay behind the door. Then I use the Keyblade to seal the door. Now, I'm back. The pathways between worlds are destroyed, and I have to use the Keyblade to link them again. I help my friends from different worlds along the way. But something is wrong. Organization XIII is a group of the most powerful Nobodies. Nobodies are the body and soul left over when someone succumbs to the darkness in their heart and becomes a Heartless. The Organization controls the Nobodies. They have been manipulating my friends, and are up to something evil. But I don't know what yet. So when I was flying in the Gummi Ship, we found this world and wanted to check it out. But we crashed into Luneth's airship. Donald, Goofy, and my pilots Chip and Dale were lost in the Darkness surrounding your world. And here we are."

"I guess mine is the shortest." Marche chuckled. "Let's see how mine is going to be."

"I was a boy whose parents divorced, and when it was settled moved to the town of St. Ivalice. My brother Doned was born sick and can't walk. We have to take him to the hospital every now and then. I made two friends in St. Ivalice. They were called Ritz and Mewt. Both had their problems as well. Ritz had white hair that she was ashamed of, and Mewt lost his mother and had a failure of a father. So one day Mewt and Ritz come over to my house and Mewt brings this weird book. It's in a different language, and was pretty creepy. So we talk and get to the conversation topic of which video game would we make real. And Mewt chose Final Fantasy. That night, while we were asleep, the world…changed. When I woke up, there were different races of people, I had a sword and armor, and it looked exactly like the game Final Fantasy. I knew somehow that Mewt did this. He created a world that granted our desires…Mewt with a mother, Ritz with natural hair, Doned could walk, and we all live in a much more fun world. But it's a dream. And living in a dream was not good for Mewt. I need to change it back to the way it was. Not for me…for Mewt."

"So Luneth and I are trying to save our worlds, and here you are, trying to destroy it? Sad." Sora gave him a smirk.

"Hey, it's for a good cause." Marche grinned and took a sip of his wine.

Later, they left the pub. Luneth pointed the way to where they landed the airship. On their way, Marche asked a question. "Hey guys, I noticed you constantly mentioned this world being covered in darkness. And I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Dude, this whole world is covered in darkness! All over! No gaps or anything." Luneth said.

"It's true." Sora said.

"Is that so? Then look at the sky." Marche pointed up. Luneth and Sora looked as well, and were amazed. The sky was a brilliant blue, with fluffy, inviting clouds, and a sun that spread the utmost warmth. And no darkness. Nothing but sky.

"How is that—why is that—when did that—doh." Luneth said.

"I know we saw it, Marche." Sora explained. "There's something evil about your world. Something wrong with it."

"There's no doubt about that, guys." Marche nodded. "That's why I'm trying to get rid of it. It's not good for anyone. The citizens, Doned, Ritz, me, and especially not Mewt."

"So where are we flying to now, guys?" Luneth asked.

"I have an idea, let's stop in Hollow Bastion. I know we have some questions, and we definitely need them answered."


	3. Chapter 3: Getting Some Answers

_Chapter 3: Getting Some Answers_

After Luneth and Sora fought because Sora gave wrong directions to Hollow Bastion, they finally made it an hour behind schedule. When they landed the airship, they walked around, looking for Merlin's place. Then Sora spread out his arms. "Stop." He said, and the two stopped.

Sora summoned his Keyblade, and stuck it out. As soon as he thrusted it, a Heartless appeared, and the Keyblade killed it instantly.

"Are these the Heartless that you were talking about?" Marche asked.

"Yup, and make sure you take out every one of them."

As soon as he finished saying that, what seemed like ten more pureblood Heartless popped up out of nowhere. Sora used Slide Dash to slide in and take out one, and then took out two more with the same move. Marche pushed one away with his shield, slashed it to bits, and then turned around and took out another one. He then pointed to another one. His eyes glowed white, and his sword did as well. The Heartless he pointed to then disappeared in a huge surge of light. Luneth was awestruck at this attack, but paid no mind. He used Souleater to take out three Heartless, and then restored the damage to himself with a strike from his red sword.

"I never got a chance to ask you guys," Sora started, "what weapons are those? This is the Keyblade, which is the key to all locks, both normal and magic, and it attracts and kills the Heartless."

"I have Excalibur. It's a Holy Knightsword wielded by Paladins, and holds the utmost light. It teaches the move Holy Blade, which you just saw earlier." Marche explained.

"I have the Royal Sword and the Blood Sword. They didn't teach me the move Souleater, I learned it when I became a Dark Knight. But the Blood Sword is really helpful because when you strike someone with it your pain eases, so whatever damage I do to myself with Souleater I can regain with the Blood Sword."

"That's pretty cool. Hey, there's Merlin's place." Sora pointed out the small house. They ran to the house before more Heartless could appear and Sora opened the door. The three flocked in, and Sora closed and locked it. He then looked over to Merlin, who was looking at them quite happily.

"Sora! Luneth! Marche! Welcome!" Merlin exclaimed.

"Hey, how do you know our names?" Luneth asked.

"Look around you. Do you think these books are just for light reading?"

"Point taken. Merlin, we're here because we have a lot of questions we need answered." Sora explained.

"Well, lay them on me. Any questions you have, I can answer."

"Okay then," Sora started, "first off, where are our friends?"

"Sora, your companions have been swallowed by the Darkness of Ivalice. They are being held captive in the realm of Darkness. As are your friends Ingus, Refia, and Arc, Luneth. And as is your clan, Marche."

"Clan? What do you mean, clan? I remember that judge saying something about a clan, but…" Luneth asked.

"A clan is a group of fighters in Ivalice who come together and complete missions for townspeople who need help, enter tournaments, battle other clans for turf…they're like family. I woke up the same morning I met you in Nubswood. My clan, Clan Nusty…they weren't there. I though they had abandoned me. But to think they've been captured by darkness? The darkness in…wait. That's another question."

"What is, Marche?"

"These guys were saying that this world is covered in darkness. But from inside, I see none. What do they mean?"

"Ahh…this is going to take a while." Merlin sighed. "Please, boys, take a seat." They did as he said.

"All right…Luneth, the eight crystals in your world—four light, four darkness—were created millennia ago to control the ever-conflicting and ever-growing forces of light and darkness. But long before that, the forces of darkness created special objects to exploit and control humans. One was a special book…one meant to exploit the greed of human beings, which would end up being their downfall. This book was called the Gran Grimoire. The Gran Grimoire was a magical book that allows whoever reads it to magically the world according to the reader's desires using the power of darkness. One example was how they changed your town of St. Ivalice into the world of Ivalice. The people within your world, including yourself, Marche, are oblivious to the true nature of Ivalice. But those outside can see. Your world is truly composed of darkness."

"So…that book Mewt brought over was…evil?" Marche was amazed.

"More evil than anything. But you see, the desires of you, Mewt, Doned, and Ritz were not really out of greed. They were out of longing. Of wanting, the good kind. You see, greed is a more extreme form of want. To have one, you have to have the other. All or nothing." Merlin explained.

"So basically this book uses the darkness in your heart to change the world into a dark fantasy according to your own desires?" Sora asked. Luneth and Marche stared at him, because it sounded so profound, and a tad corny.

"Exactly." Merlin confirmed.

"Now here's the question we all want answered." Luneth said. "How do we get our friends back, and how do we get home?"

"Ahh, boys…how oblivious you are. Haven't you been noticing strange things going on, Marche? Your clan immediately captured by darkness, when nothing of the sort has happened before? Someone is abusing the darkness!" Merlin pointed out.

"I knew that, what do you think I'm trying to stop?" Luneth said.

"It's not the same. Someone else is trying to use the darkness, but not to release the Void. It's to achieve their own ends."

"So who is it?" Sora asked. He didn't expect an answer.

But apparently Sora was wrong.

"It's the leader of the Organization. Xehanort's Nobody. Xemnas."

"What?!" Sora was astonished.

"Xemnas knows that the darkness was what birthed the Gran Grimoire. So he seeks to harness the power of the four Dark Crystals in order to draw out the power of the Gran Grimoire and harness that as well. He will now have the powers of both darkness and the power to change the world according to desire and greed. But he won't stop at just one world. He will put all worlds under his control, and he will make himself an eternal king. There will be nothing he can't do, and only you three can stop him. Sora, you are the wielder of the Keyblade. Marche, you can destroy the worlds created by the Gran Grimoire, and Luneth, you are the power that is polar opposite to the darkness. You three have everything necessary to stop Xemnas in his tracks."

"So you're saying the three of us have to stop this Xemnas guy?" Marche asked.

"Yes. But it won't be easy. He has not accessed the power of darkness yet. You must find him. And go fast! Go!" And with that, Sora, Marche, and Luneth bolted for the door.

"Luneth!" Merlin called. Luneth stopped and looked back at Merlin. "Come hither, boy."

Luneth walked up to him, and saw Merlin looked very serious. "Luneth, for a warrior of light, you are using a lot of darkness in battle."

"It's my job. It's one of the most powerful I—"

"Ah! No." he interrupted. "Luneth, the power of the Dark Knight is drawn from the darkness of the heart. Be very careful, or else the darkness will consume you, and you will become something of pure evil."

"Luneth! Come on!" Sora yelled from outside.

"Go." Merlin whispered, and Luneth ran, Merlin's words not a blip on his radar.


	4. Chapter 4: Too Late To Stop It

_Chapter 4: Too Late To Stop It_

"Luneth, I'm fucking hungry! Are we there yet?" Sora asked. Luneth looked at him. When did sweet little Sora get so mouthy?

"Chill, will ya? Where'd the attitude come from?"

"A week on a boat with barely any food does that to you!" Marche moaned.

"Well, constant bitching isn't going to solve anything. So shut your faces." Luneth looked ahead, and saw something weird. For the past week, he has been amazed that instead of searching so long for a secret passage to the realm of darkness he merely had to fly to it. But at this point he didn't care. He just wanted to get there already. But it looked like he was there.

"Guys?" Luneth called. "Guys, look. I think we're there."

"What?!" Marche and Sora ran for the front of the boat, and saw something horrifying. A black, uninviting gate that seemed to hold an eerie glow behind it. Above it and below it were dark, black storm clouds with lighting and thunder striking constantly. On the doors of the gates were an eerie skull, shrouded by a thin fog. This was obviously the realm of darkness. No doubt about it.

"Damn." Sora said. "Full speed ahead, captain."

"When they got there, Luneth tried to knock down the doors of the gates with the ship. Luckily the ship wasn't damaged, but the gates didn't even move. The skull seemed to mock them. But then Sora looked closely at the skull. It seemed to be in the shape of a keyhole, and it even looked like it ahd a dim, yellow ambient glow to it. Sora knew what he had to do.

"Luneth, stop the boat. Stand back." Sora jumped onto the bow of the boat. He summoned his Keyblade, spun it, and pointed it at the skull. A thin blue ray came from the Keyblade, and struck between the eyes of the skull. The skull's eye sockets glowed red, and the skull seemed to split in half slowly. Then the horrible creaking sound followed. It took Marche a minute to realize the gate was opening. They were in.

"Sora, how did you know to do that?" Marche inquired.

Sora flipped backwards and landed next to Marche. Then a happy-go-lucky smile spread across his face. "When you see something that even remotely looks like a keyhole, it kind of becomes instinctive. Hehe!"

"…Yeah. Luneth, keep going." Marche said, eyebrow raised.

As they ventured farther into the realm of darkness, monsters kept creeping or landing on the boat. Sora and Marche kept getting tired trying to keep them away from Luneth. Eventually, the monsters stopped coming. And so did the airship.

"Where are we, Luneth?" Sora asked.

"We're here." Luneth confirmed. He pointed to a large staircase, that had a large platform on top. Far above the platform was a large, black and purple crystal, that seemed to be glowing. And they heard a sinister laugh from the same direction.

"That has to be Xemnas." Sora confirmed. The three of them jumped off the boat. Marche threw the two of them a pair of purple pointed slippers.

"Put on the dash boots." They slipped them on in half a second. Then, when they bolted for the staircase, even they were amazed by their speed. The staircase, darkness, everything blurred. When they finally made it to the top, even though they had gone faster than any normal human being should, they were too late.

A figure in a black cloak with long, silver hair put out his arms. The black crystal rose in the air, glowing, and a ray of black and purple lighting struck the figure. It rose into the air, in front of the crystal. Then from the figure came an explosion that nearly knocked the three heroes aback, but filled them with cold. It was the beginning of the end, they knew it.

After the smoke cleared, the crystal was back in its normal place, and the figure was on the ground, kneeling. When it got up, it turned around to reveal a transformed, hideous figure. This new figure had a cloak that was opened wide, with glowing purple markings all over his chest. Its silver hair was no longer in a pony tail but sticking up. It had black pants with a skull belt, red eyes like a snake, and fangs. This being was no longer Xemnas. It was a creature of the utmost darkness.

"Although my figure is changed, you can still call me Xemnas, however." Its voice was distorted.

"Xemnas, what have you done to yourself?" Sora called out. "You look like an idiot."

"I'm actually quite happy with my new appearance. I'm happy with my new power. And I'm happy to see you."

"Quit lying, Xemnas. You're a Nobody. You can't feel any emotions."

"Correction. I was a Nobody. Now I am a new creature…one who has had the emptiness in his body filled with darkness…to serve as a heart. I can feel the emotions. Rage, hate…even the pain is beautiful. So, I bid you adieu." And in a black portal he was gone.

"Shit." Luneth said out loud. "Well, next stop, Ivalice."


	5. Chapter 5: The Search for the Seam

_Chapter 5: The Search for the Seam_

When they arrived in Ivalice, Luneth and Sora had to follow Marche through the whole thing, and had no idea why. "Why?"

"Because I have only defeated the first four crystals, and since the crystals are the threads that hold Ivalice together, destroying them would destroy Ivalice and seal away the magic in the Gran Grimoire before Xemnas can use it. And to get to the last crystal, we need to find the seam."

"So what, it's find the seam, show up, break the crystal, Xemnas' plan is foiled?" Luneth asked.

"It's not that easy." Marche warned. "Each of the five crystals is guarded by an almighty Totema. Totemas are the guardians of the crystals, one for each race that inhabits Ivalice. When you kill a Totema its power becomes available to its respective race. And the one we're looking for is mine."

"Damn." Sora remarked.

"IS THAT ALL YOU EVER SAY?!?!" Luneth screamed. But then Marche put out his arms.

"Stop. Look." He pointed to Ulei river.

"What about it—what the hell?!?" Sora was shocked. The Ulei river was a clear color, blue reflecting the sky, sparkling dazzlingly, so inviting one could drink it—except it was flowing backwards. Up the waterfall instead of down.

"What's going on here?" Luneth asked.

"We found our seam." Marche walked closer to the river, slowly. When he got near it, what looked like a black hole appeared over the river. Sora summoned his Keyblade and assumed fighting position.

"Watch out! The Organization is gonna come through!" Sora yelled. "That's the portal, their means of transportation!"

"No, that's the seam. Just come through it." Marche went through, Luneth followed. Sora eventually followed suit.

When they entered, they were in what seemed like an old abandoned ballroom of a castle. There was a two-foot pedestal in the center, with a blue crystal and a beam of light shining on it. The room was huge but empty. Marche, Luneth, and Sora walked closer to the crystal. But as they did, lightning struck in front of Sora. Then Marche. Then Riku. The whole room filled with light to the point that they couldn't see. When the light went away, they saw a beautiful woman in brilliant azure armor standing with a staff. She seemed to glow like the crystal.

"What is your purpose here?" her voice sounded like it was backed by a chorus of angels.

"Please, we have to destroy that crystal. A man filled with Darkness, named Xemnas, seeks to use the magic of this world to achieve his own ends. If we destroy the crystal, this world will vanish, and he won't be able to use its magic."

"No matter if it's for good purposes or malevolent ones, I have been charged with the protection of this crystal. And nothing will stop me from making sure it stays intact. If you still seek your goal, draw your swords so that we may see whose cause prevails."

And so it began.


	6. Chapter 6: It's Not Over Yet

_**Chapter 6: It's Not Over Yet**_

A huge thunderbolt crashed in front of Luneth as he stepped back instinctively to avoid being struck. Angry her Thundaga failed, Mateus leapt into the air, tossing her edged staff towards Marche's heart like a Javelin. Marche coolly sidestepped and swung his sword, knocking the staff off its trajectory and flinging it to the left. Mateus landed flawlessly and caught the staff, and then dashed with agonizing speed at Marche. Marche looked towards her, and was frozen with terror.

"Oh, no you don't." Sora whispered, and went to do a Slide Dash on Mateus before she could hurt Marche. Not even blinking an eye Mateus struck Sora with her staff and got Marche with a roundhouse kick. Marche wasn't as harmed as Sora was. Sora looked over at Luneth. At that second, Luneth, Marche and Sora had a wordless conversation that explained everything. With a final nod, Marche and Luneth ran right up to Mateus and gashed her with their swords. The combination of Marche's Holy Blade and Luneth's Souleater must have harmed Mateus badly. But she merely stumbled. Luneth saw that Sora had used a potion to heal himself, and was ready to fight.

Mateus immediately turned 180 and focused her attention on Sora as she bolted towards him. Sora, grinning, seemed to explode in a burst of red. In an instant his clothes were bright crimson, he was holding two brilliantly shining Keyblades, and seemed to be emanating auras of power. Luneth and Marche were stupefied. Sora had entered his Valor Form.

His performance at this time was like nothing they had ever seen before. His mere jump was higher than heaven, and he managed to pull off faster air combos than he had ever shown in front of Luneth and Marche. Did he do this often? Or did he only save it for special occasions? Sora's two companions knew Mateus was going to have her work cut out for her here. But he was surprised to see that Mateus was effectively parrying and countering the attacks, as was Sora. They seemed to be almost equals here.

Sora landed on the ground, and managed to use both of his keyblades to knock Mateus back. Luneth then used his double swords to knock her in Marche's direction. Marche finally got her on her knees with a swipe of his Excalibur. Mateus seemed to be gasping for breath, but just as fast as the great trio thought they were triumphant, were their spirits crushed by the Totema's ploy.

Immediately Mateus leapt into the air and twirled her staff. Light emanated from her in the shape of a star, and despite its beauty, Marche, Luneth, and Sora could feel something going from the outside in, a pain like something were tearing their flesh as the light from Mateus' Star Cross attack swept across them. Sora let out a cry of pain as his Valor Form reverted back to regular and his Star Seeker Keyblade disappeared, leaving only a Hero's Crest.

When the light finally subsided, the three warriors checked their bodies. Cuts, scrapes, and gashes all over. Sora could barely move his left arm. Immediately Mateus landed before Sora and kicked him into the wall, knocking him unconscious. Just as she was about to charge at him, she felt a pain in her back. She turned around to see Marche had boldly fired an Air Render attack at her. She pointed her staff to him, and a burst of lightning crashed down on Marche. It was the last straw.

"NO!" Luneth cried, as his friend fell over. Sometimes when you see something both scary and powerful in unison, time seems to slow down as you contemplate what was happening. Thoughts raced through Luneth's head._ Marche's dead…he's dead? Sora…he's unconscious. I'm all alone. I can't win. I'm done. I'm DONE! I…I…ahh…_The fear seemed to make Luneth disoriented. He stumbled backwards, flailing his swords everywhere as he tried to regain balance.

Mateus watched and tried to avoid laughing at how easy this was. She knocked out the loudmouth, killed the Paladin, and now the last brat was giving up? Pathetic. But what Mateus didn't know was that Luneth was actually working out a master plan.

He continued to back up. "Gotta…get my—my balance!" He stammered. Eventually he turned around and put out his swords. He fell forward, and as his body lunged towards the ground his two swords dug into what would end the battle – the Crystal Mateus was supposed to protect.

Luneth immediately stood up, fully erect. "You were a fool to underestimate us. You were proud of defeating Sora and Marche, and you should be. They're admirable foes. But I think outside the box."

Luneth expected something along the lines of "No!" or "DAMN!" or "I'll get my revenge, Luneth, Warrior of Light! Heed my words, heathen!" But all he got was a chuckle from Mateus, and a quiet "Impressive." And immediately she faded away.

Luneth looked to the crystal. The cracks from where his swords punctured it were growing larger and larger. _Oh, crap!_ He immediately pulled his swords out of the crystal and lunged to a safe distance. Shards of the shattered crystal spewed everywhere, but then faded into thin air.

Luneth rubbed Marche's face with a Phoenix down, and Marche opened his eyes. "The crystal…it's gone!" Marche stood up quickly, amazed. "This world should be gone soon!"

"Which would render the new Xemnas powerless," Marche and Luneth were surprised to see Sora standing again.

"Not necessarily…" The three turned around to see a woman in a black gown standing in front of them, a vindictive look on her face.

"Who's that?" Sora asked.

"Queen Remedi of Bervenia Palace," Marche said, confused as to why she was here. "What do you mean, 'not necessarily?'"

"The Gran Grimoire is a book that creates worlds based on the wishes and desires of those who get the book. Therefore, it is sustained by wishes. True, these crystals do sustain the world. But the foundation of the world is through wishes. Want. With those, Ivalice can never truly fall."

"Whose wants?"

"Everyone…mine…Mewt's…even yours, Marche."

"Why would I want this world to stay here?"

"Neither you nor your friends are any exception. Here, you are fast and athletic, as opposed to before. Your friend Ritz now has real red hair instead of dyed. Your brother Doned is no longer lame. And Mewt…he has a respected father, a high place in society…and a mother. You would be fools to give up this place." And she disappeared.


	7. Chapter 7: I Hate Unexpected Guests

_**Chapter 7: I Hate Unexpected Guests**_

Marche seemed to keep to himself for the next few hours, barely interacting with his friends. If they asked him something they might have gotten a soft grunt or two. Eventually Sora became concerned, and sat beside Marche on the deck.

"Marche, you've been sulking ever since we left Mateus' chamber. What's up?"

"Queen Remedi was right, Sora. If I were to give up this world, I would be sacrificing something that I really wanted. I love being athletic and strong here in Ivalice. I don't want to give that up. And because of that selfish desire, this world will never go away, and Xemnas will soon bend us all to his will."

"It's not your fault, Luneth."

"Yes, it is! I was the one of the people who created this world in the first place, and I can't even finish what I started!" Marche raised his hands as if to grab his hair out of his head, but then just clenched his fists and put them down.

"Queen Remedi said that the desires of the creators of Ivalice are what sustain it, right?" Luneth called from behind the wheel of the Enterprise.

"That's right." Marche replied.

"Who else forged this place?" Sora asked.

"My brother Doned, and my friends Ritz and Mewt. But convincing them would be impossible. They'd never want to go back, not after what Ivalice has given them. Ritz now has real red hair, so she doesn't have to dye anymore. Doned can walk and isn't confined to a wheelchair. Mewt has a respectable father and a loving mother. I can't tell them to go back to what we had before, nor would they."

"Then destroying Ivalice is out of the question." Sora said. "Which means…"

"If we can't stop the Gran Grimoire," Luneth continued, "We'll have to protect it so that Xemnas will never be able to access it."

"But—" Marche was cut off as someone seemed to appear out of thin air. He wore red and white, with a scarlet turban. His eyes looked youthful, yet evil. Marche knew him only too well.

"Llednar!"

"Aww, you remember me!" Llendar said, the sarcasm obviously present.

"I hate unexpected guests. What say you we dispose of him?" Sora said as he summoned his Keyblade.

"NO!" Marche said, and spread his arms to hold him back. "Queen Remedi has cast the most powerful Ivalice law on him. It's called Fortune. It protects him from any harm. Fighting him would be futile."

"They don't need a tutorial, Marche." Llednar's condescending smirk wiped off. "You're going to need a Phoenix down once my mission is complete."

"Mission for what?"

"To kill the three of you and send the remains of your ship into the ocean while I dump your bodies in the Ulei River. And considering the fact that I can't lose, it shouldn't be that hard."

"We'll see." Sora growled.

Those must have been the trigger words for engagement, because immediately a judge riding an armored Chocobo appeared on the deck beside them. "Engagement declared. Make sure you review today's laws prior to engagement. Fortune law is in effect. Begin!"

Llednar's speeds seemed to surpass Mateus' as he dashed directly towards Marche, carrying what looked like a purple-black blade. Marche parried just as smoothly, following up with a sweep to the leg. "Guys, leave this to me!"

"Fine with me," Llednar said as he got back up. "Marche and I have a score to settle anyway."


	8. Chapter 8: Llednar

_**Chapter 8: Llednar**_

The eruption of clangs and bangs were immense as Llednar and Marche fired blows at each other nonstop. Each collision of their swords seemed to add to their hatred of each other. Finally Llednar flipped back and caught his breath. Marche, not skipping a beat, threw an Air Render at him. The green bolt-shaped gust of wind erupted forth, and Llednar rolled to the side before it hit him, and chipped the edge of the Intrepid. Finally Llednar charged again.

Marche swung his sword horizontally at Llednar as soon as he was close enough, but Llednar jumped high in the air too early. Landing behind Marche, he push-kicked him forward, knocking him five feet ahead on the ground. Llednar ran over to him and lunged his sword forward to stab. Thinking quickly, Marche redirected the blade's force to his right, forcing Llednar in another direction. As soon as Marche stood up, however, Llednar immediately turned around and cast Life Render.

Marche felt cold. He fell to his knees, and felt his life slowly slipping away from him. Marche gasped for breath, and looked up as Llednar was about to cast Omega. Marche held out his Excalibur, and cast Holy Blade.

The clash of these two powers was immense, so much so that the airship seemed to teeter. Any more immense and the ship might have started to fall apart.

The resulting explosion knocked both Marche and Llednar back. Marche was on his back, and felt the life slipping out of him from that Life Render attack. _What had Llednar done to him?_

"It's simple, really. Life Render can cast Doom, sometimes. In a few minutes you'll be done for." Marche knew Llednar was right. He had lost this battle. _I guess there's nothing to do but—_

"Warning!" The Judge called. "Soon you will be leaving Ivalice. I cannot referee this fight when we have left Ivalice boundaries. I advise you finish this fight as before that."

"What?! Was this their plan all along?" Llednar immediately looked to Marche, angry that he had been fooled. At least he'd be dead soon. Llednar turned around, ready to look for the others. However, as soon as he turned, he saw Sora and Luneth waiting for him.

"Looking for someone?" Luneth flung his two blades ahead, which were blocked by Llednar's one sword. Sora then attacked his stomach with his Keyblade. Unhurt due to Fortune, Llednar retaliated by kicking Sora back. Sora recovered and grabbed Llednar's legs. "What the—" Luneth went behind him and held his arms together.

"You can't hurt me! I'm protected!" Llednar scoffed.

"Not anymore." Marche appeared seemingly out of nowhere, having cured himself of his Doom ailment. He held his Excalibur to Llednar's throat.

"What—what are you talking about?" And as if on cue, the Judge spoke.

"We have left Ivalice borders. I cannot supervise anymore. All laws for this engagement are now null and void."

Llednar seemed to flash quickly, and a look of horror enveloped his face. Fortune was null—he was vulnerable.

"And now…" Marche scoffed, and he punched Llednar several times in the stomach until he was out cold.


	9. Chapter 9: Your Torture for the Evening

Chapter 9:

_**Chapter 9: Your Torture For the Evening**_

"I can't believe it…" Marche was devastated as he looked back at Ivalice. "It's sprawling with darkness, and I never even knew." Even after seeing it several times, he still couldn't believe it.

"Hey, looks like sleepyhead is coming back," Sora pointed out. It was true, Llednar was waking up.

"Ugh…where am I? And why…why am I tied to the mast?!" Llednar's whole body was constricted by ropes that kept him tied to the mast of the Enterprise. "Untie me this instant!"

"I don't think so, hotshot." Sora smacked him upside the head. "Now my friend here with the LOVELY blond hair has a couple questions for ya. If you got the answer, best say it as soon as he asks or else we two studs, Luneth and I, will be administering your torture for the evening."

Luneth gave a smirk.

"You won't get anything out of me." Llednar scoffed.

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that." Luneth snarled, his Blood Sword to Llednar's throat. He looked at Llednar's eyes. He could see that he was scared. Tied to a mast, incapacitated, able to feel pain…not a great situation. But he could make it better if he cooperated.

"What happens to me after the fact?" Llednar blurted.

"Well, if it'll persuade you all the more…" Marche sighed. "If you cooperate, then we turn around and drop you into Ivalice. By the time you reenter, your Fortune law should be back in effect and you won't get hurt by the fall. If you don't cooperate, we hurt you until we get the answers we need, and then we drop you into the first dimension we find. Your choice there, buddy."

"Feh…how low, that you would resort to interrogation tactics such as this…you're no better than a common thug."

Marche stepped back. He was right. Marche was becoming just like the bandits he fights in Jagds. But there's no time to quibble. There's worlds to save.

"What do you know about the Gran Grimoire?" Marche asked.

"What do you mean, what do I know about it?" Llednar said sarcastically. "It created me. I'm one of its…branches."

"It's power is founded on the desires of those who use its power. Is that the only way to defeat it?"

"I'm not telling you—AGH!" Luneth was poking his sword into his rib cage.

"Best answer before I break skin."

"You won't—AGH! No! It's not the only way."

"Really? And what way would that be?"

"If the power of the Gran Grimoire was transferred into another vessel, a destructible vessel…that would do the job."

"A vessel…like a body?"

"Xemnas…but we can't let him get the power of the book, he'll be too strong." Sora pointed out.

"Whoever Xemnas is, he's a fool…the Gran Grimoire is a package deal. Its power cannot be accessed unless the magic text is read aloud from the book. Bringing the power into your own body would just make it dormant."

"And if we stopped Xemnas while the Gran Grimoire's power was in his body, we could stop this…destroying Ivalice as well." Marche looked down. What would he be giving up by doing this? A lifetime of happiness? If he were to orchestrate events to bring back St. Ivalice and his friends and brother found out about it, they might never forgive him.

But now's not the time to go over this.

"Well, you've been a great help, Llednar." Marche looked over to Sora. Sora nodded, and hit him over the back of the head. Knocked out, Luneth untied Llednar and threw him over the side into Ivalice.

"He's not gonna be a happy camper when he wakes up."


End file.
